


"I refuse to sell love potions"

by WingsOfWax



Series: aloe vera & lemon citrus [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst, M/M, Magic AU, love potion bullshit, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 23:06:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9928073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingsOfWax/pseuds/WingsOfWax
Summary: “I need a love potion.”Nicky laughs. Aaron sighs. He gets this question at least once a month, but no one will let him put up a sign. “No. I refuse sell love potions. I don't tamper with that kind of thing.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> got this prompt from @webedragons - thanks dear! this was fun
> 
> did limited research for this, so please let me know if i fucked anything up too badly - i don't think so, but ya know - tell me if i did
> 
> also tell me if i should tag something else
> 
> Edit: god i fucked up the title. I fail at life yo

“Nicky!” Aaron shouts, waving him away from the planter box. “You're over-watering them again!” 

Nicky sighs, put-upon, and sets the watering can off to the side. “How am I supposed to know? Do they all get different amounts of water?” 

“Yes,” Aaron hisses. He pokes at the soil and frowns. “Dammit. Just - go...fuck with something else, would you?”

“Can I at least  _ pick _ something?” Nicky asks, wandering over to another area of the makeshift greenhouse. “I mean, you can't possibly need all of these flowers!”

“Don't touch any of them,” Aaron mutters, taking up the discarded watering can and moving on to a less-assaulted planter. “I never know what I will need, so hands off.”

“Uh, hello?”

Aaron looks over his shoulder. He recognizes the guy standing in the doorway as a friend to Neil and Renee. He's seen him around before, but he’s never had a reason to come back here - he must just be looking for Nicky. Nicky bounces over to him with a smile on his face and Aaron turns back to his plants. The aloe is growing nicely, at least, which is good. He'd used up most of his largest plants a few months ago.

“What’s up, Matt?” Nicky asks. “Here for a social call or are you finally going to let us show you what we can do?” 

Aaron rolls his eyes and moves on to the evening primroses. The little old ladies that stop by once or twice a month like his arthritis lotion, and he's running low on stock. Maybe he'll let Nicky pick some damn flowers after all. 

“Well, uh, I actually need to talk to Aaron?” Matt says it like it's a question. Aaron waves him over as he moves toward the back, where all of the herbs grow in so many sectioned off clumps. “I heard you were the one to talk to about, uh, potions and stuff.”

“Depends on what you want,” Aaron says, sprinkling water over all the green. He breaks off a bit of mint and pops it in his mouth. “Most of what I do is a simpler form of medicine.”

Matt hesitates. “This is a bit different.” Aaron sets the empty watering can down on the long, skinny table in the center of the room and looks up at the giant. He waits. Matt scratches at the back of his neck. “I need a love potion.”

Nicky laughs. Aaron sighs. He gets this question at least once a month, but no one will let him put up a sign. “No. I refuse sell love potions. I don't tamper with that kind of thing.” Matt's face falls. “It doesn't allow for the consent of the one you're giving it to, and whatever you put out in the world comes back to you three times over. Fucking with people like that isn't something I'm willing to risk.”

Matt nods. “It was worth a shot, I guess.” 

Nicky whines. “You're so cute and nice! I'm sure you don't need it anyway, Matt.” 

Matt grimaces, though it's clearly meant to be a smile. “Sure, Nicky. Thanks anyway. I'll get out of your hair. Renee said it would be a long shot.”

“Woah, Renee sent you here?” Nicky asks with wide eyes. “And you told her what you wanted?” Matt shrugs. “Aaron! You have to! If Renee sent him -”

“No.” Aaron snatches up the watering can and walks around the vacant side of the table to head for the door. It's far colder outside than it is in his little greenhouse. Still, he crouches by the worn spigot and turns it on to fill the can up again. 

He's annoyed. Why would Renee send Matt to him? There are other people who would be more than happy to throw something together for Matt. It probably wouldn't work for shit, but it would also save everyone involved a lot of trouble. He's made exactly one thing like that in his entire life, and he will never do it again. The risk is far too great. 

“I'm sorry.” Aaron glances over and sees Matt’s boots. They're nice, he notices distantly. The sort of boots he'd like to have himself, if he weren't a green mage that made far too little money to splurge on stupid stuff like that. 

“Don't ask again.” 

“I won't,” Matt is quick to reply. “I just - Renee sort of knew what I was after and she told me to come here and talk to you.”

Ah. That makes a bit more sense. Aaron cuts off the water and stands with the can to go back inside. Nicky is gone. He's probably run inside to go call Renee on their ancient phone - the only one they have - and complain. Won't he be surprised. 

Aaron heads over to another box. It's just brown for now, with no new growth to be seen just yet. Another few days, he thinks, and the shoots will begin to show. Matt trails along behind him. 

“I've made one before,” Aaron begins. “I liked this girl. Katelyn. She was - fuck, she was beautiful. And the nicest person I'd ever met.”

“Was,” Matt says softly. 

“Was,” Aaron nods. “I made it up as a lotion - those are easier for me. We were together for two years before everything went bad. Not between us, just...in general. First Kevin showed up, then six months later, Neil came along. They brought another coven down on us.”

“I'm sorry - coven?” Matt asks. 

“Group of...my kind of people that bands together,” Aaron says, electing for the simplest possible - if perhaps a little inaccurate - definition. “The Ravens were stronger and bigger and had a lot of...well, darker magicks. They're part of the reason Neil got so fucked up. Anyway, they found out about Katelyn and used her against me. I didn't know they'd already killed her until after everything was done with. Everyone was convinced she was still alive. She wasn't. Not even close to it. Renee found her, later, and said she'd been dead for days.” 

“I'm so sorry,” Matt whispers.

“We were engaged,” Aaron continues, even though it hurts, because he knows it's important that this lesson is driven home effectively. All of this Renee could have told Matt. Not this last part. “And she was pregnant.”

“Fuck.”

“Three times over,” Aaron says, holding up his left hand with the first three fingers up. “Happiness,” he folds down one finger, “marriage,” he folds down a second finger, “family,” and he folds down the last finger. “I had to give up all three that I'd gained through that love potion shit. That is the shit you will suffer and I refuse to do that to any other person.”

Matt is quiet for too long. Finally, Aaron looks over at him. He's further back than Aaron thought. He hasn't been edging along beside Aaron as he was before. He's staring at a clump of marigolds, both hands shoved deep in his pockets. 

“It really isn't worth it,” Matt mutters. He looks over at Aaron. “I'm sorry for asking.”

“Renee sent you so I'd tell you,” Aaron says with a shrug. That's how Renee works. He'd know. “Go inside and buy shit. I have work to do.” He turns back to his plants and gets to work watering again. He hears Matt leave and allows himself to grieve in silence for a while. 

* * *

Aaron is  _ busy _ dammit! There's been a string of illnesses lately and the incompetent doctors in this city have been unable to do anything about it, so more and more worried mothers are rushing to him with their infants and small children and begging him to help. He can treat the symptoms easily enough - coughs, fevers, belly aches, and rashes are simple to handle. Making them so that children will actually like them is another story entirely.

“Aaron!” Nicky calls for a second time from the back stoop. 

“What?” he shouts back.

“Phone!” 

Annoyed, Aaron slams his pestle on the table. He is covered in dirt and plants and other shit, but fuck it. He rinses his hands in a bucket of icy cold water and dries them as quickly as he can before shrugging on his coat and heading out of the greenhouse. He stomps his way across the snow-dusted yard and up the stairs to get to the kitchen. 

“Finally! There's someone in the store.” Nicky dashes out to the front and leaves Aaron alone in the kitchen. 

“What?” Aaron demands, snatching up the earpiece and holding it up. 

“Hey to you too,” comes the soft chuckle. “Sounds like you were busy. I'm sorry. Nicky didn't say.”

It's  _ Matt _ . Aaron stares at the rotary dial on the wall. “Hs never does.” He eyes the door the pest disappeared through and wishes he could strangle him. “What do you need?”

“Two things,” Matt says. “That shit you make for bruises is, like, the best thing in the world. Seriously. How can they not sell that stuff everywhere? People are really missing out.”

“I have three mothers coming to the store tonight to pick up stuff for their sick kids,” Aaron says, “so could you get to the point?” 

“Oh! Yeah, sorry.” Matt laughs a little. “Are you, uh, free on Saturday?”

“No?” Aaron glances over at the calendar hanging on the wall. “I have to run the store.” 

“Sunday?” Matt asks, sounding hopeful. 

“No.” Aaron sighs. “Look, I really don't have time for this. All of my stuff is going to dry out and it's going to be ruined. Can you get to the point?”

“When do you have a day off, then?” 

“I don't know,” Aaron says, feeling a bit sour about it. “When all these kids stop getting sick, I guess. Look, you want to chit-chat, find someone else.” He hangs up before Matt can get another word in and he goes back out to his greenhouse to work in peace. 

He manages - barely - to finish the medicines before all of the mothers show up right at closing. He takes credit for two of them and doesn't care that Kevin will bitch about it later. He won't make a kid suffer because their mother is too poor to afford medicine. He helps Nicky close everything up once the last woman leaves. 

“What did Matt want?” Nicky asks, sweeping up a dust pile into a pan. 

“Huh?” Aaron looks up from the till and frowns. “I don't know. He never got to the point so I hung up. I was busy. Take a fucking message if someone calls for me, would you?”

Nicky just shrugs and they finish up in silence. Aaron heads up to his room once they're done and collapses on his bed. Tomorrow will be busy as well, since he wants to go ahead and make up some of those medicines for anyone who needs it. He falls asleep before he gets dinner.

The next day turns into the day before. He is out in his greenhouse all morning, crushing roots and plants and mixing them until he gets the concoction exactly right. It's tedious, but he has to pay close attention - too much of any one thing and it won't work the way he wants it to. 

He’s just starting to bottle the first batch - he'd made enough to fill twelve small vials - when someone comes into his greenhouse. He ignores them. Kevin will sometimes let his stupid dog out in the back yard and stand in the greenhouse to wait because it's so much warmer. Neil sometimes comes out here to refill the herb jars in their kitchen. 

“Hey.” 

Aaron glances up as he switches vials. “What are you doing here?” He can't fathom why Matt keeps coming around. It's been weeks since he denied Matt the stupid love potion he wanted, and yet he still keeps stopping by the store. The call yesterday didn't make any sense either.

“I brought lunch.” Matt holds up a paper bag. Aaron spares him another glance. He hasn't eaten in...well, he can't remember. He's been busy, and last night he was too tired. Matt comes a little closer. “Wow, that stinks.”

Aaron shrugs one shoulder gently. “It doesn't when I'm finished.” Some cinnamon doesn't hurt, and neither does the bit of whisky he adds. He sets aside another half-full vial and takes up another. Two left and he'll be done with this batch. The rest of his plants are still drying, so the next batch will have to wait. 

“My mom said this stuff worked wonders for a friend of hers.” Matt picks up one of the vials and peers at it. 

“Good.” He says it gruffly, but he is genuinely glad that his medicine works - not that he had any doubts, but still… “Why did you bring lunch?”

“I thought we could eat together?” Matt sets the vial down. “I mean, Nicky said you hadn't eaten in a while…”

That's an understatement, but Aaron lets it slide. “Whatever. Let me finish. Nicky has the store and the others are out today, so we can eat in the kitchen.” At least it's warm and clean in there. Matt is quiet while Aaron finishes up and corks all the vials. He gathers them up in a burlap-lined bucket and carries them into the house.

Once he's put everything away, he washes his hands and discards the ugly brown apron he wears to keep most of the crap off of his clothes. “Tea?” Matt nods and Aaron waves at the table for him to sit while he grabs a kettle and fills it with water. After it's on the stove, he kicks a chair out and sits heavily. He's still tired. 

“How long does one of those little things last?” Matt asks as he unfolds the paper bag. He takes out a couple of sandwiches and passes one to Aaron. It's still warm. 

“Couple of days,” Aaron says. “Doesn't take much, and this is all for little kids. Someone like you would get a different kind - something stronger.”

Matt nods. “This is pretty cool. I mean, Nicky doesn't know that much about it, just basically what the little cards say.”

“Nicky’s brand of magick comes in the form of being generally annoying,” Aaron grumbles. He takes a bite of his sandwich. It's pleasantly spicy. He licks a stray bit of hot mustard off his lip. “He's good with rocks.”

“Yeah, he was showing me,” Matt says with a little laugh. “So then what does Neil do? Or Kevin or Andrew?”

“Andrew fights,” Aaron answers simply. “Combat and strength are his thing - protection is when he’s strongest. Kevin has his stupid dog and endurance and focus. Doesn't seem like much, but if you give him a puzzle or a challenge, he'll figure it out every time. Neil is good with wards and barriers. He can make them, but he can also break anyone else's.” 

“That's the weird tingly feeling I get when I come I here?” Matt asks, looking over at the kitchen door. “I mean, it's just when I come back here…”

“So you probably have some latent talent,” Aaron says with a shrug. “A lot of people do and don't realize it. That you can get through those wards at all means Neil trusts you.” 

That seems to take Matt by surprise, but then he grins. “Good. Neil is hard to read sometimes. I called him my friend one day and he just had this  _ look _ …”

“I call it his stupid face,” Aaron mutters before taking another bite. “He acts like he's lived under a rock for most of his life. Maybe he has. I don't know and I don't really care.” Matt doesn't chastise him for being antagonistic like everyone else does. “What are you really doing here?”

Matt takes a quick bite so he doesn't have to answer. Aaron narrows his eyes, but the kettle starts to whistle so he has to stand and get the tea ready. He thumps a mug in front of Matt - along with a jar of honey and a little pitcher of cream - and he sits again. Matt spoons a little bit of honey into his mug and Aaron adds a good bit more to his own. He eyes Matt over the rim of his mug until Matt catches on. 

“I wanted to...see if you'd…” Matt mutters something Aaron can't quite hear. 

“What?”

“Uh, nevermind.” Matt drains his mug, though it has to be far too hot, and he jerks to his feet. “I hope the sandwich is okay. I, uh, I'll get out of your way now.”

“I didn't hear you.” Aaron just looks at Matt, at the flush spreading over his face and down his neck, and blinks. He can't figure out what Matt has to be embarrassed about. “What did you say?”

“Oh…” Matt scratches at his neck. “Uh. Would you...uh...get dinner with me...sometime?” Aaron blinks at him. He doesn't quite understand the question. “Like a - a date, ya know?”

Oh.  _ Oh _ . “Why?” Why would anyone want to do anything with  _ him _ ? He's rude and irritable and does his best to push people away. His twin is widely believed to be completely insane. No one  _ wants _ to associate with someone like him. They do because they have to, but they're quick to thank him and leave as soon as they can. He has been completely closed off ever since Katelyn died - and it's been three years since then. 

Matt falters at the question. “I don't know? I just - want to?” 

Aaron shakes his head. “You were here two months ago asking about a love potion. What happened to that, then?”

Matt grimaces. “That was a stupid idea,” he mutters. “I didn't know anything about what it would even do. I thought, like, maybe it would be enough to get them to notice me at all? Sounded like it was a lot more than that…”

Aaron shrugs. “Stupid idea or not, you didn't answer my question.” He watches as Matt stares at the floor. “I live with a fucking pathological liar. I know how to spot when someone is avoiding the truth.” He stands. “Who were you planning to use that shit on?”

Matt sighs and looks at him. He's frowning hard. “I've been trying to get your attention for almost a year.” 

Aaron's entire world tilts to the side a bit. He doesn't know how to react to that - what to do with that information - so he walks away. He goes to the back door, snatches the apron off the hook, and heads out to his greenhouse. 

Matt follows him out, calling his name. Aaron doesn’t react until Matt catches up to him right at the door of his greenhouse. He damns himself for the ivy curling around the frame, still growing - even in the dead of winter. He can list ivy’s properties easily: healing, protection, fidelity, loyalty, cooperation - those are the reasons he chose it to go over and around the door. It also binds lovers together, and he’s poured so much of himself into coaxing this bit of ivy to grow…

He turns to face Matt. Matt, who is chewing nervously at his bottom lip and looking at Aaron with such uncertainty. Matt, who Aaron’s been watching from the corner of his eye for a year, too. 

“I swear, Aaron, I didn’t know anything about the love potion stuff - about what it did or how strong they were or  _ anything _ .” He combs his fingers hastily through his hair and sighs, his breath coming out as a puff of white in the cold. “I’m sorry.”

“Swear again,” Aaron breaths. 

“I swear,” Matt says, without any hesitation. 

Aaron puts one hand on Matt’s chest. “Swear again.”

“I swear,” Matt says a third time, still with utter conviction. Aaron  _ knows  _ he isn’t lying. He can tell. He might not have any sort of clairvoyance, but he’s always been able to tell when someone is lying. “Aaron…”

“Okay,” Aaron says simply. And he kisses him. 

**Author's Note:**

> posting this a few days earlier than planned
> 
> because i felt like it
> 
> check back with me on the 28th for my birthday gifts to all of you
> 
> i have been very hard at work on some awesome shit


End file.
